Woman arrested for scaling US treasury fence had tried enter White House

The woman had been arrested on March 21 for trying to jump the south fence of the White House.

The woman was carrying a backpack and sleeping bag but no weapons when she was taken into custody.(Reuters File)

A woman was arrested on Sunday after scaling a fence at the US treasury building, and a spokesman for the US Secret Service said she had been apprehended twice in the last week, once for trying to jump a White House fence.

The woman, who was not identified by the Secret Service, was carrying a backpack and sleeping bag but no weapons when she was taken into custody on the grounds of the treasury building, Secret Service spokesman Shawn Holtzclaw said.

Following her arrest, agents determined that the woman had been arrested on March 21 for trying to jump the south fence of the White House, which is adjacent to the Treasury Building, and released the next day after a court appearance.

On Friday, Holtzclaw said, the woman was again taken into custody after she was spotted in the area, violating a “stay away” order issued by the judge in the first case. She appeared in court again the following day and was again released on her own recognizance.

Earlier this month Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives oversight committee, asked Secret Service Acting Director William Callahan provide a briefing in response to reports that a 26-year-old man had climbed the White House fence and spent 16 minutes on the grounds before he was detained.